Cinema Review: Genevieve Nnaji’s “Road To Yesterday” Leads Nowhere

So last night was the screening of Ishaya Bako’s Road to Yesterday which we all know is Genevieve Nnaji’s first attempt at trying her hands on Producing. I attended as an AFRIFF industry delegate which meant that I was in a hall filled with fellow filmmakers who didn’t merit to be on the very exclusive VIP guest list. These select few were in a different hall with stern looking private security guards manning the entrance.

I had several reasons to see this film. First being to see how Ishaya Bako would direct this film seeing that this was his first feature; and if the trailer was anything to go by, this was supposed to be a very engaging drama. Second was the fact that Genevieve Nnaji is one of the few talents I respect in the industry and to be privileged to witness her transition into producing was time worth investing.

Road to Yesterday is a film told in flashbacks; which were one too many. An estranged couple on a road trip begins to unpack their emotions in an attempt to uncover the reasons behind a betrayal. The film started over an hour later than advertised and this was already beginning to annoy the crowd with some declaring that ‘the only way they would forgive the organizers was for the film to live up to its hype’.

Without spoiling anything for those of you who are yet to see this film, I am just going to rant about what I feel should have been better. To start with, the dialogue was dreadful! The writing wasn’t elementary, if it was, you would see potentials. It wasn’t basic, because at the very least it would have some good moments. The thing didn’t even attempt to be ‘on the nose’, at least this could have allowed us to see what it was trying to achieve. This was worse than a first draft and that’s where the director first failed me. I mean, if the producer couldn’t tell that the dialogue was bad, what is your job as ‘able ‘D’? Imagine nearly every spoken line repeated back and forth in a tedious banter going nowhere and advancing nothing.

Acting was just as bad. Izu, our lead male was too rigid and you felt he was the only one enjoying the sound of his own voice. Comedian and recently turned actor Chigurl, had no business in this movie. If the character was designed as the comic relief, it failed. I personally was afraid for her; Chigurl really didn’t add any value to the ensemble. Then there were the ‘waka-pass’ actors at the bar who essentially set their careers back a few years with their criminal performances. Genevieve Nnaji had moments of brilliance but these were always immediately swallowed up by below par deliveries from the other cast.

So did this movie have any positives? Yes, I loved the tone and what it tried to do. The twist was great and perhaps the only thing that rescued it from being a total waste of my time. Overall, Genevieve has been brave with this project and should be forgiven for a lot of the issues the movie has. It is never easy to make a great film and she can only get better. Amen.

I have a colleague who had seen the movie and she said she was scared of the public reaction as people expected more from a Genevieve Nnaji production.
For her own review she had more praises for Izu and said the character pf Majid Micheal also delivered.
The producers as i learnt didnt want the reviews out yet hence this person putting up the name ‘guest reviewer’

Hmm

Saw the movie and it was a snoozefest. I need to add here that Genevieve should have produced and then cast someone else to take her part because her acting really sucked for me. I left the cinema barely 30mins into the movie. Yes, it was that boring.

Ijeoma

Simon Says

I agree with Linda. The mysterious “guest reviewer” clearly came at the movie with a not so subtle bias towards the film and filmmakers and several preconceived notions of what he/she expected. Perhaps the movie was too deep for him/her to understand since he/she is perhaps used to the typical “on-the-nose” dialogue employed in Nollywood movies he/she watches. And he/she obviously wanted to rant about something and the movie was just in the right avenue to do so. I don’t know. But every one is entitled to their own opinion and I look forward to watching this movie when it comes out. We should start expecting something new and different from Nollywood in the years to come and I think road to yesterday is the start of that something.

Simon Says

I agree with Linda. The mysterious “guest reviewer” clearly came at the movie with a not so subtle bias towards the film and filmmakers and several preconceived notions of what he/she expected. Perhaps the movie was too deep for him/her to understand since he/she is perhaps used to the typical “on-the-nose” dialogue employed in Nollywood movies he/she watches. And he/she obviously wanted to rant about something and the movie was just in the right avenue to do so. I don’t know. But every one is entitled to their own opinion and I look forward to watching this movie when it comes out. We should start expecting something new and different from Nollywood in the years to come and I think road to yesterday is the start of that something.

Frank Peking

Meandering Thoughts on The Road to Yesterday
There will be no shortage of professional commentary on the new film by Genevieve Nnaji and Chinny Onwuewgbu’s Ten Productions so this is not one of them. Instead my thoughts wander in the very intentional metaphorical paths that the film compels one to explore; like wisps of smoke carrying hints of skewers of marinated meat cuts on a grill somewhere out in the softly lit garden ahead. There’s music in the background, voices and laughter sprinkled intermittently like riffs between the chords, they tempt but do not distract. And there are the gusts of emotion that lift hemlines suggestively and blow errant hair to tease the bare-skinned faces, ears and necks, they taunt but do not occupy the evening.
It could so easily have been a story told in simpler allegory but it is in answering the last question in the last paragraph below that the Road to Yesterday reaches an eloquence which speaks louder to the throbbing heart, than to the sterile sense of mind. The film plays teasingly with the latter but moves solemnly to the beat of the former. I find it fitting that in the end both meet in the triumph of a stillness. That would be a very appropriate state for the critics who expected “more” but got “less” of their pre-determined fare. I enjoyed the film and have watched it twice and the perspectives I share below will tell you why
Why do we love? The question assumes we know what love really is and can recognise its outlines; even when blinded by our insecurities we can run our hands over its face, trace out its features and colour in the picture with our imagination and hopefully never have to open our eyes to see the caricature we often create and vaunt as masterpieces.
The answer is we love as a compulsion to complete our self. Like a proboscis enables a butterfly to extract sweet nectar from the flowers it feeds upon, regardless of the shape of the blossom, our hearts roam the earth restless and seeking mates that continue to elude us and our biased vision of a perfect blossom. However, when not being used, a butterfly’s proboscis is rolled up out of the way even as it flits from flower to flower – pretty much unlike humans as the story unfolds….
Do we love or live love? Apparently we can do both, move seamlessly, cynically and remorselessly between the reality of the emotion and the mechanics of its expression; all the while free of the constraints of conscience. Until some spoiler decides to take it serious and hold us accountable. Then the s**t hits the fan, the masquerade must dance in daylight and we can see the splayed toes of its feet moving deftly beneath the raffia skirt to sway the torso above.
Does love include an open ticket, second and third chances? Maybe even fourth? The rules are different for everyone, are negotiable and have no expiry dates. For everything there is a time and a season indeed but the hands of the clock that ticks for love do not tell its complete story. In the name of love, under its banner and in its shadow we find and excuse licentiousness, mischief, betrayal, and yes, murder. Love is the ultimate scapegoat, the “why” he did it, the “what” she needed. Love is also a gate pass, a tag that changes our expectations of behaviour, outcomes and consequences.
Can love endure all things? The answer is probably yes but we cannot know this answer unless we first venture out to discover love. Again, the analogy beckons – we are like salmon swimming furiously against the surging stream intent on getting to its end and dying. Therein lies the mystery that has enthralled man from the beginning of time and will into eternity: there is this void within us all that the journey through joy, sadness, pain, bitterness and all the turmoil and tempest of our emotions somehow only captures and holds momentarily. It is that futile moment that we live for – to love and live again, in the knowledge that we must live and love yet again, and again, and again if love itself must live.

Andrea Strong

Wow….well said! That was a beautifully written piece about the movie and love itself. As humans, we search endlessly for this “love”, to live it, to smell it, to be it, but sadly many of us never find it. Some of us may have loved, but lost it, leaving us more wounded than we were before. The only way this void can be filled is through the love of Christ. His love never fails and never gives up on us. Through the love of others, his love can be embodied. It’s something we’ll feel through the core of our bones making our very being quiver beneath the weight that is love. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. While we yet have the chance we ought to make peace with each other.

Nkem

I saw RTY, while the critic hasn’t been constructive, they aren’t actually wrong. The story could simply have been told simpler. The attempt to switch into the twist and back was clumsy and poorly executed. It is frankly a first time mistake of trying to do everything in one film, here’s hoping the reviews don’t spoil it for her and her sophomore attempt is much better.

The Princess

Finally, I got to see the movie: Road to Yesterday. Not a bad movie to start with but this review is very critical.
Personally, I think the movie was actually boring and lacked intensity especially at the beginning part of it. Some repetitions were probably not neccessary and the effort to bring a wonderful performance did overided the emotions the movie would have caused. I found myself looking more at the acting then been carried away with the flow. The best part of the movie I think begins about an hour later; so it really takes patience to get there.
I loved the music, I loved Chi gurl’s role and also, the funny mannerism by the two lead actors could have made the movie a little intriging and “catchy” at the beginning.

TNS Quote

As a director, I am a disciplinarian. I have no room for posers. If you want to pose, you go somewhere else. I am not interested in the star, I am interested in the artist. I am interested in the person who will do the job.